Boys tournaments this week are in Healdsburg, at Cardinal Newman, Cloverdale and Calistoga. On the girls side are tournaments in Healdsburg, at Maria Carrillo and Calistoga.

Healdsburg hosts the region’s oldest event. The Redwood Empire Invitational Basketball Tournament, in its 64th year, has eight team boys and girls competitions.

“It’s pretty competitive. We try to keep it that way,” said Healdsburg athletic director and co-girls coach Brain Osborn.

More than half of the teams entered in the Healdsburg tournament reached last season’s section playoffs. To accommodate so many squads, organizers staggered first-round games over Wednesday and today. On Friday, games are split between Healdsburg high and middle schools.

The 48th edition of the Rose City Tournament for boys, hosted by Cardinal Newman, also boasts a handful of section playoff squads from a year ago.

“It’s a really good field and should be a competitive tournament,” said Cardinal Newman coach Tom Bonfigli.

Rose City contests begin today. A break in the rain should help attendance at area tournaments, Bonfigli said.

Hosting tournaments can be a good way for a team to win some games and build confidence. That is the goal for Maria Carrillo’s girls team under new coach Chris Walton as the school puts on the Lady Puma Invitational starting today.

“It’s a nice little stretch of games,” Walton said. “It gives you some competition and you get to see teams you may face in the sections.”

Despite so many tournaments going at the same time, organizers don’t lack for finding teams.

A mix of large and small schools usually results, sometimes creating match-ups teams otherwise wouldn’t schedule.

“We want to get as many local teams as possible. We also have some teams that always come. Once you find a town you like you tend to stay,” Osborn said. “You also try to get division opponents.”

One reason teams play two and sometimes three tournaments is gaining games against opponents in the same division, which is based on school enrollment. That can help achieve one of the selection criteria for a section playoff spot if a team can record a winning record in division contests.

So, the girls’ side of the Healdsburg tournament features a handful of NCS Division 4 teams plus squads from larger schools.

Tournaments are a bargain for fans, as well as fun for players. You can see several games in one night for the cost of a single ticket.

“It’s cool. You get a lot of games in,” Osborn said.

SRJC HOSTS WOMEN’S TOURNEY

The Santa Rosa Junior College women host the Caren Franci Invitational starting today and continuing through Saturday. Santa Rosa opens today against a Bear Cubs alumni team, as organizers scrambled to replace the Simpson College junior varsity. Santa Rosa coach Lacey Campbell has called in enough former players to fill two alumni teams as some cannot play the entire tournament. Look for very competitive contests.

PDPreps: VIDEO REPORTS

The Elsie Allen High School football team has not won a game since September 2013. After a rough spring which saw a newly hired coach resign, new coach Bill Wight is hoping to inspire the Lobos to more winning ways.

Reporting scores to The PD

To report results: To report a score, coaches or team officials should call 526-8500 and press 3 at the prompt. Results called in before 10 p.m. most nights and 10:30 p.m. on Fridays will appear in the next day’s Press Democrat.